Meerkat

Members of the mongoose family, meerkats are native to the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa. Meerkats are small and slender, with grayish brown fur and black, virtually hairless bellies which they point toward the morning sun to warm their bodies. They have pointed faces with and small rounded ears that they can close to keep out sand. Their forward-facing eyes provide them with binocular vision and are surrounded by black spots that work to deflect the sun's glare. They use their long tapered tails like a tripod to help them balance when standing on their hind legs.

Meerkats live in complex social groups known as "mobs" of five to thirty members. Since temperatures in the desert can drop below freezing at night, meerkats build complex underground burrow systems in which they sleep. They emerge during the day to forage for insects, eggs, small reptiles, scorpions, tubers and roots. While most of the mob searches for food, at least one meerkat always stands watch to alert the other members of potential danger. Meerkats not only use vocalizations to warn each other of danger, but also to convey a variety of other messages.

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